Rem ran down the stairs to the dungeon at a full-tilt, not pausing for staircases to swing for her, but simply finding a way to the bottom. She unhesitatingly pounded on the door to Snape's office when she reached it, her chest rising and falling heavily, trying to catch her breath.

After a couple moments, the door wrenched open, revealing a very annoyed-looking Professor. "Remington-" He began to say, a thorough ass-chewing about to cross his lips, Rem was sure.

"Don't yell at me. Not this time." She interrupted him, the last traces of breathlessness beginning to fade from her voice. "I think something's happening." His eyes narrowed slowly. "You know what I'm talking about." She insisted.

He turned back, heading back into the room and going to the desk, yanking a drawer open and shuffling through it for a moment. Rem stepped inside and swung the door shut.

"The D.A. are watching the Room of Requirement, and some are going to be coming down to watch your room, as well. Draco's mended the Vanishing Cabinet in the Room of Requirement- I don't really know-" She broke off, not really sure if she should be saying as much as she was. "Dumbledore and Harry have gone somewhere."

"Go back to Gryffindor Tower, Remington." Snape ordered, not looking up at her as he pulled another drawer open.

"No!" Rem exclaimed indignantly, "I'm not going to sit back and do nothing."

"For the sake of your mother's sanity, Remington," He said venomously, "Go back to the tower and stay there."

"I refuse." Rem snapped decisively. "Not when this is going down-" He started to interrupt her, but she raised her voice. "Stop telling me what to do!" He seemed mildly surprised by the outburst. He didn't expect her to argue at a time like this, no matter how she acted usually. "I'm making my own decisions."

"You think that wise?" Snape shot at her, ceasing rifling through his desk. "Helping Draco all year? Getting yourself mixed up in something you knew very well you should keep your obstinate little hands out of?"

"I knew what I was risking." She retorted. "If it helped keep him alive, it was worth it."

"Getting yourself killed will not help anything, Remington." He told her, about to continue.

"I know that." She flashed, watching him slam the drawers shut on his desk. As he was about to walk around the desk, she decided she'd better ask him then. "You need to promise me something."

He turned his eyes on her, the expression on his face showing that he was clearly not at all happy with either her, or the situation, or both.

"Promise me you won't let him die." She said, determined, but slightly pleading. "I can't lose him."

"Taking into account the fact I will die if he does-" Snape said, giving her a look.

"Just promise." She insisted impatiently. He returned a pointed look for a moment, before the door flew open.

Remington spun around to see Flitwick in the doorway. The Charms Professor hardly spared her a second look.

"Severus! You must come with me immediately!" The small wizard demanded feverishly in his squeak-like voice, "Death Eaters! In Hogwarts!"

The last thing he was expecting was for Snape's wand to shoot out, and Flitwick immediately toppled over.

Rem's eyes grew big and she opened her mouth to say something, but Snape gave a shushing hiss and she quickly quieted herself, slipping out of the office just behind Snape. In the hallway, Hermione and Luna were waiting, looking surprised to see Remington leaving the Slytherin Head of House's office.

"Professor Flitwick seems to have collapsed in shock, you three should take care of them while I go to help the other teachers." Snape said to the two girls, who hastily did as he said, though Remington just looked at him with a narrow gaze. He met her eyes for a moment, as if to silently argue that she'd better do as told, but eventually decided it was best to get going rather than sit and mentally yell at Remington.

They were just nearing the hallway that housed the stairwell to the Astronomy Tower, but before they rounded the last safe corner, the sounds of a battle raging just around the bend, Snape stopped and turned to her, about to try for a final time to get her to stay in safety.

"Do not follow me." He instructed sharply.

"I can handle myself-" She began to object.

"These are murderers you are talking about, Remington," He snapped. "You have no idea what they are capable of-"

"I fought them once, and I damn well can do it again." She flashed.

Beyond vexed, beyond arguing with her, Snape whipped around and strode into the thick of the fray.

She chased after him, ducking around a mousy-haired woman- Tonks, who was fighting a hooded figure, and evading a couple stray curses. She saw Snape up ahead, moving up the stairs to the Tower. She slipped through the crowd of Death Eaters, Order members, and D.A. Though, when she was about to head up the stairs, she was flung back by some sort of shield. She scrambled off the ground, her back throbbing from where she'd hit the stone floor. But if she didn't get to her feet as soon as possible, she'd certainly be stepped on.

She cast a quick glance about the packed corridor. She didn't know who she was supposed to be hexing. She couldn't very well hex her fellow students, but then again, could she really hex the Death Eaters, if it could possibly compromise Draco's safety?

So instead, she slipped through the crowd to avoid getting hit by any spells, watching her back closely and protecting herself rather than attacking anyone else. She needed to find him-

"Rem!" Someone yelled from behind her, a girl, Ginny, perhaps. She whipped towards the voice, coming face-to-face with a figure of, she supposed, a man, though he was on the extreme end of rugged. He was not armed, but she could see that his nails were dripping a dark, shiny liquid. The same stuff dribbled down his chin, from his savage grin. Blood, she realized, somehow managing not to throw up. The animalistic features of his face told her what she could have already guessed.

She jumped out of the way just as he lunged at her, aiming her wand at him with both hands, trembling. She could feel the fear-induced adrenaline racing through her veins. She'd gone from on edge to complete and total disquiet in fractions of a second.

She knew plenty of useful spells, but only a single one seemed to come to mind. One she'd been able to fend off werewolves with before, though they hadn't looked so human, or acted so far from it.

Flames shot from her wand at the man, and he leapt out of the way.

"Stay away from me!" She shouted at him, backing away.

Someone came from behind her, pushing her back slightly and blocking the werewolf from her view. "We're leaving." The person said to the werewolf, with a voice she knew immediately.

"I almost had that little-" The man began, looking intently over Draco's shoulder at Remington, licking his lips slightly.

"Don't touch her!" Draco snapped.

"So now you grow a backbone, kiddie?" The man jeered, "You don't give me orders." He snarled.

"You wouldn't be here without me." Draco reminded him sharply, earning another sneer before the man turned. To stalk someone else, she thought with a sickening feeling.

She grabbed Draco's arm, "You brought a werewo-" She began to demand, still shaking slightly.

"I didn't have a choice, Rem." Draco yanked out of her grip, looking down at her coldly. "And you shouldn't be here."

"Don't even-" She started.

"Get out of here, Remington." He flashed.

She probably would have protested, but Snape seized Draco's shoulder and steered him on. Rem attempted to follow, but was cut off as the Order began to attack the Death Eaters that descended from the Astronomy Tower. Through the crowd, she could see someone else moving, going after Snape and Draco as well, someone with dark hair.

Remington forced her way through the battling witches and wizards, heading after Harry, who she could just see turning the corner at the end of the corridor. She chased after him, ducking stray hexes and avoiding puddles of blood, not about to let him out of her sight. If she followed him, she'd find Draco.

She saw him shove aside a tapestry up ahead and take a hidden shortcut, and didn't think twice before doing the same. He hadn't noticed her following him, being that she was several yards behind. Behind the tapestry were a set of stairs that she didn't bother to take one at a time, and when she left the hidden stairwell, there was a small cluster of Hufflepuffs standing in the corridor she arrived at. They were staring off at where Harry must have run to, out the front doors of the castle. In a couple short moments, she found herself looking out over the grounds.

A few Death Eaters were heading down the hill, trying to get past the gates and off the school property to Disapparate. Hagrid was locked in a duel with a rather large Death Eater halfway down the slope. Harry was a little ways down the hill already, and Snape and Draco were just a bit below him.

Harry shot a curse at Snape's back, though it missed. Snape shouted at Draco before he turned to face Harry.

But as Snape hissed at Draco to run, the boy looked back over his shoulder, seeing Harry charging after them, and Remington not far behind. Draco swore under his breath, heading back up the hill.

She was caught somewhere between shifting her attention to Draco, and attacking Harry. Harry was attempting Unforgivable Curses on Snape, and though she knew the man was very capable of protecting himself, she still felt a twist of anger. First Harry landed Draco in the hospital wing, and now he goes after Snape?

She slipped once on her way down the hill, and by the time she got back to her feet, Draco had grabbed her and held her around the waist, with her arms pinned to her sides to keep her from charging after Harry. "Snape can handle this himself." He said in her ear, but her struggles hardly lessened.

"Go, Draco!" Snape ordered for a second time.

"Professor." Draco said, nearly losing his hold on Remington, though she no longer seemed quite as determined to attack Harry.

She was breathing hard from sprinting through the whole damn castle and from fighting Draco's grip. He may have been skinnier than earlier in the year, but he was still plenty stronger than she was. She wasn't going to get away from him. That was getting clearer.

Snape glanced up at them for a fraction of a second, then his wand flicked in their direction, and it all went black.

When Remington came back to her senses, she could see Harry and Hagrid heading up the hill towards her. She pulled herself to her feet, stumbling slightly, though she managed to find her balance.

"Alright?" Harry asked softly, obviously a bit off. The fact that he was, and the fact he wasn't showing any animosity for her made her previous anger towards him abate. Not to mention that she felt a little light-headed.

"Fine," She replied. "You?"

"Yeah." Harry said off-handedly, still heading up towards the castle. She followed, melting in with the other students who were filtering out of the oak front doors and to the foot of the tallest tower.

Harry moved forward through the crowd, past those at the front. She could only barely see around the many other students what everyone was looking at. Up ahead, Harry crouched down beside the body of Albus Dumbledore.

Several things crossed her mind then. The first was that it explained Harry's behavior. He knew Dumbledore was dead, and was shaken from it. The second was that Draco's task was finally clear. He was told to murder one of the greatest wizards of all time. A feat she couldn't believe he'd actually been entrusted with. Just a boy-

Then came the realization that Harry would've been after Draco rather than Snape, had he really killed Dumbledore. So it must have been Snape. And that must have been why Harry was so keen to curse him.

And finally, Dumbledore was dead. Hogwarts was no longer a safe haven. The most powerful wizard fighting on the side of good... was gone.